Thursday, 5 July 2012

Sinn Féin councillors John Brady and Rossa Murray welcomed campaignersagainst the unfair Household Charge to Bray Town Councils July monthlymeeting which was held on Tuesday last. The protest which was heldoutside the council meeting was timed to coincide with the threateningletters that have been send out to those people who have failed to paythe €100 stealth tax. A large group of Sinn Féin supports had joinedin with the protest outside the council meeting to show theircontinued opposition to the charge. Towards the end of the protest asmall group broke away and proceeded to enter the council chamber andinterrupt the council meeting.

Speaking after the protest Cllr John Brady stated "Following the firstround of threatening letters that were sent out earlier this week aprotest had been organised to send a clear message to the governmentparties that bully boy tactics that are being used by Fine Gael andLabour simply wont work, the 50% of Wicklow residents who have notpaid the stealth tax done so because of the unfairness of it andbecause they simply cant afford it. The protest outside the councilmeeting on Tuesday had been joined by a large group of Sinn Féinmembers and supports"

Cllr Brady continued "Towards the end of the protest a section of theprotesters broke away and proceeded to enter the council chamber wherethe council meeting was taking place. The protesters put across theirmessage loud and clear, much to the dislike of the majority of theestablishment councillors. The officials and all the councillorspresent proceeded to stand up and leave the council chamber with theexception of the two Sinn Féin councillors myself and councillorRossa Murray. We stayed in the chamber and listened to the protest aswe agree on the issue of which formed their protest"

Cllr Murray stated "As someone who has stated publically that i wasnot going to pay the Household charge i sat and listened to thelegitimate concerns of the protesters. Dragging ordinary peoplethrough the courts for non payment of the unfair charge stinks ofhypocrisy, the people who have brought this state to its knees arefree to continue living their lavish lifestyles whilst the ordinarypeople are forced to pay the cost. The other councillors at themeeting ran and hid probably because they could not face the truthfrom the people on the ground who are hurting because of the policiesof austerity"

Cllr Brady went onto say "The loud protest in the council chamberlasted about 20 minutes and after the Gardaí were called i addressedthe protesters and welcomed them into the council chamber and statedthat i fully supported their legitimate concerns and i and Sinn Féinalso support the abolishment of the household charge. I also statedthat i had raised the issue of the threatening letters at the councilmeeting in Wicklow county council the day before and had voiced myopposition and Sinn Feins opposition to the charge continuously atcouncil meetings and had brought a number of motions to that effectbefore the councils."

Cllr Brady concluded "The protest ended after Cllr Murray and i gaveassurances that the issue of the household charge and the threateningletters would be on the agenda and discussed at the next councilmeeting. The message that the protest did send out to the governmentparties was that they had brought in the unpopular charges and theyhad to face up to their policies and try to justify them as opposed torunning and hiding. I look forward to the next council meeting wherethe issue will be debated and will again welcome the protesters tolisten to the debate."